Vodafone Case – Interesting Twists
AS is well known, the Supreme Court had asked Vodafone to deposit Rs . 2500 Crores in the mega IT case and also allowed the Income Tax Department to withdraw this amount if the DGIT gave an undertaking that if the Government loses the case, it would return the amount with interest. Vodafone had deposited the amount and a happy Income Tax Department went to the Supreme Court to collect the Rs . 2500 Crores , but it faced a new problem when the Supreme Court Registry asked it to pay Rs . 25 Crores as Court Commission. It may be noted that the Supreme Court had also asked for Bank Guarantee of Rs . 8500 Crores from a Nationalised Bank.
As per Entry 26 of Part III of Third Schedule of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966, on all moneys or securities paid to the Registrar or deposited with him, a Commission of 1 percent has to be paid. So whoever wins the case, the Supreme Court is sure to earn Rs. 25 Crores! It is not yet known whether this 25 Crores will go to the Consolidated Fund of India or can be used by the Supreme Court. If this can be used by the Supreme Court, this will set in a nice precedent for the Supreme Court to generate funds for its infrastructure without depending on the government for funds.
Now the Government has filed an application in the Supreme Court to waive this one percent commission. The Government has also requested the Supreme Court to ask Vodafone to deposit another Rs. 25 Crores so that the Government gets its full 2500 Crores . Arithmetically this is still wrong as if Vodafone deposits another 25 Crores , the total deposit becomes 2525 Crores and one percent would become 25.25 Crores and the Government would get 2499.75 Lakhs – still 25 lakhs short.
Another issue is whether the one percent Commission is to be paid on the Rs . 8500 Crore bank guarantee – after all that is a security. If that is so, the Government will have to lose another 85 Crores and this will add 110 Crores to the Supreme Court kitty, which can be used for better facilities in the Supreme Court.
The Budget allocation for the Supreme Court in the 2010-11 Budget is Rs. 85 Crores and this includes the provision for salaries and travel expenditure in respect of Chief Justice and other Judges, staff and officers of the Registry including the Departmental Canteen, the charges for professional service towards personnel deployed for security and the expenditure on establishment related needs including stationery, office equipments, security equipments, printing of Annual Report and maintenance of CCTV in the Supreme Court. Another 110 Crores can make a big difference to all these aspects and the Supreme Court can have a well deserved face-lift.
In any case if the money is going to the Consolidated Fund of India, how does it matter if the 25 Crores comes through the Supreme Court or through the Income Tax Department?
Why should the Government be so fussy about the Rs. 25 Crores with the Supreme Court? After all it is not going to Pakistan!
It seems the IT Department's problem is - “how to account for this 25 Crores ?” And maybe they are afraid of the CAG! Government is really a complicated business!
In another development the Gujarat High Court refused to sanction the demerger scheme of Vodafone-Essar Gujarat Limited (VEGL) and its parent company Vodafone-Essar Infrastructure Limited (VEIL). However the order is suspended for two weeks, on a request made by Vodafone- Essar's counsel so that they can approach the higher court.